Author Archive

Born October 9, 1953, in Fulton, Missouri, Bill Baker earned his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri in 1975. He then worked briefly at Exxon Mobil before returning to school. After earning his Masters of Science in Civil Engineering in 1980 from the University of Illinois, Bill joined SOM, where he is currently the Structural Engineering Partner over Civil and Structural Engineering in their Chicago and London offices(6). One of his most notable works is the Burj Khalif, where his innovative “buttressed core” structural system allowed the building to become the world’s tallest structure. Baker is very highly regarded within the field of structural engineering. He received the 2010 Gold Medal from the Institution of Structural Engineers and will be the recipient of the 2011 ASCE Outstanding Projects and Leaders Lifetime Award for Design. (7)

SOM was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings, who were joined by John O. Merril in 1939. The firm opened its first branch in New York City in 1937, and had more than 1000 employees by 1952. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill specializes in technically challenging upscale and high-rise buildings. Their engineers and architects have designed many of the tallest buildings in the world, including Sears Tower by Fazlur Khan in 1974, and the world’s current tallest standing structure, Burj Khalifa, completed in 2010 and designed by Bill Baker. The firm is also in charge of constructing One World Trade Center, which is to be the main building in the new World Trade Center Complex. (8)